Jay N. Gordon (born 1948) is an American

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

, lecturer, and author. He is well-known within the anti-vaccine movement for his promotion of

vaccine hesitancy Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal of vaccines despite availability and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use, or using ce ...

. He does encourage vaccinating but at the discretion of the parent. He is also a long-time advocate of

breastfeeding Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the process where breast milk is fed to a child. Infants may suck the milk directly from the breast, or milk may be extracted with a Breast pump, pump and then fed to the infant. The World Health Orga ...

; he became a member of the International Health Advisory Council of the

La Leche League La Leche League International (LLLI) () is a non-governmental, non-profit organization that organizes advocacy, education, and training related to breastfeeding. It is present in about 89 countries. The aim of the charity is to provide mother-t ...

in 2005. Gordon's patients have included Eliza Jane Scovill and the son of the actress and anti-vaccine activist

Jenny McCarthy Jennifer Ann McCarthy-Wahlberg (' McCarthy; born November 1, 1972) is an American actress, model, television personality, and anti-vaccine activist. She began her career in 1993 as a nude model for ''Playboy'' magazine and was later named thei ...

Views on vaccination

Gordon claims that, to an individual child, the risks of vaccination often outweigh its benefits. Therefore, he stopped following the recommended

vaccine schedule A vaccination schedule is a series of vaccinations, including the timing of all doses, which may be either recommended or compulsory, depending on the country of residence. A vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to produce active immunity t ...

for his patients in 1980, although he still administers vaccinations to some children on a case-by-case basis. Gordon has cited the debunked connection between vaccines and autism among the alleged risks to children that prevent him from routinely administering vaccinations.< He has signed hundreds of personal-belief exemptions to school vaccine requirements. In a 2015 interview with Ben Tracy of

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

, Gordon was asked about the risk of contagion should someone with

measles Measles (probably from Middle Dutch or Middle High German ''masel(e)'', meaning "blemish, blood blister") is a highly contagious, Vaccine-preventable diseases, vaccine-preventable infectious disease caused by Measles morbillivirus, measles v ...

walk into his office, given that most of his patients delay or avoid the

measles vaccine Measles vaccine protects against becoming infected with measles. Nearly all of those who do not develop immunity after a single dose develop it after a second dose. When the rate of vaccination within a population is greater than 92%, outbreaks ...

. Gordon responded: "You just said it, they'd get measles. Not meningitis, not the plague, not Ebola, they'd get measles. Measles is almost an always a benign childhood illness." However, Deborah Lehman at

Cedars Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary, 915-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital has a staff of over 2,00 ...

says: "People don't remember children staying in dark rooms because they have measles and the light hurts their eyes and developing brain swelling and serious developmental problems, we've given people a false sense of security and it's situations like this, outbreaks like this nowiki/>Disneyland measles outbreak">Disneyland_measles_outbreak.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Disneyland measles outbreak">nowiki/>Disneyland measles outbreakthat really remind us of the importance of these diseases and really the benefit of vaccine." As of 2021, Dr. Gordon supports the COVID vaccine for eligible children and adults. “Vaccine immunity is better than disease immunity. “

Selected works

Gordon is the author and co-author of several books and a DVD, including: * ''Brighter Baby'' (1999) * ''Listening to Your Baby: A New Approach to Parenting Your Newborn'' (2002) * ''Good Nights: The Happy Parents' Guide to the Family Bed, and a Peaceful Night's Sleep!'' (2002) * ''The ADD and ADHD Cure: The Natural Way to Treat Hyperactivity and Refocus Your Child'' (2008) * ''Vaccinations? Assessing the Risks and Benefits'' (DVD) (2008) * ''Preventing Autism: What You Can Do to Protect Your Children Before and After Birth'' (2013)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Jay American pediatricians Breastfeeding activists American anti-vaccination activists American medical writers American family and parenting writers Physicians from California People from Santa Monica, California American health activists Living people 1948 births